Cartridge-feed mechanism of maxim guns.



G. T. BUGKHAM.

CARTRIDGE FEED MECHANISM or MAXIM GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 5, 1908.

G. T. BUGKHAM. CARTRIDGE FEED MEGHANISM 0F MAXIM GUNS.

APPLICATION I'IL ED OCT. 6, 1908. 951,999. Patented Mar. 15,1910. I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

11 mm 9 y 11 F1816 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOB TO VIGKERS SONS & MAXIM LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

CARTRIDGE-FEED MECHANISM OF MAXIM GUNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 5, 1908.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

Serial No. 456,324.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Grotto-E THOMAS BUCK- HAM, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 32 Victoria street, lVest-minster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Cartridge-Feed Mechanism of Maxim Guns, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to the cartridge,

feed mechanism of Maxim guns.

The cartridge feed mechanism as at present used 1n the Maxlm gun, comprises 'a feed box which is furnished at its upper part with a reciprocating plate or slide that works transversely with respect to the longi-.

tudinal axis of the gun. This plate or slide has hinged thereto a pair of spring-controlled feed or drivin pawls that operate to push the cartridge be t step by step through the said feed box, so that the cartridges in the belt are brought one by one into position to be withdrawn therefrom by the cartridge carrier on the lock and subsequently introduced into the barrel for firing, the said slide being reciprocated in the feed box by the action of a lever or arm that receives its motion from the reciprocating barrel during the working of the gun. The said feed box is also furnished at its lower part with retainin pawls for preventing the belt from moving while the aforesaid plate is retracted preparatory to performing its feed movement.

'The present invention has particular reference to the aforesaid slide and its springcontrolled feed-pawls. These pawls have hitherto been loosely mounted on their pivotpin on the slide and held in place in their working position solely by the side walls of.

the portion of the feed box in which the slide works, so that if the slide be removed become unintentionally detached; and even when the slide is in place, the said pawls from the feed box the pawls are liable to' are liable to change their working position laterally on their pivot-pin and by hearing against the side walls of the feed box, cause undue friction which tends to interfere with ready detachment by the fingers of the user without the assistance of any tools, for enabling a broken or faulty spring to bereplaced by a new one.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure. 1 is a plan, and Fig. 2 a cross section on the line 1.1. showing the feed box provided withmy improvements.v Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation on the line 2.2. of Fig. 1 as seen from the right of that figure. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of the slide shown detached from the feed box and the parts it carries removed therefrom. Figs. 5 and 6 are end views of the same. Figs. 7 and 8 are a side elevation and an end view of one of the feed pawls. Figs. 9 and 10 are a side elevation and a plan of the feedpawl spring. Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are side elevationsshowing the manner in which the various parts of the slide are assembled. Fig. 14 is a side elevation showing the extent of angular movement the feed pawls receive during the retraction of the slide and the passage of the free end of the pawls over the cartridges in the feed belt. Figs. 15 to 19 illustrate a modification of the slide and its feed pawls; Fig. 15 being a side elevation; Fig. 16 an end view of the slide with the pawls removed Figs. 17 and 18 a side elevation and an end view of one of the pawls detached; and Fig. 19 a side elevation showing the pawl in process-of being attached to the slide. 1 Figs. 20 to 23 illustrate a further modification of the said slide v ence indicate. similar partsi from enga axis of the barrel the gun. This movement is imparted to the said slide from the reciprocating barrel by the usual means, which com rise the lever or arm E (Figs. 1 and 2) rnished with a stud E engaging with a slot in the slideand carried at the upser end of a Cpivot pin E verticall mounte in the fee box; at its lower en it has a second lever or arm E which enga es at its free endwith a notch C in a pro onged portion of one of the recoil lates.

F are the 'feed pawlsv that are connected to the under side of the'slide D by the pivotpin D and Gis their spring.

H, H are the usual retaining pawls and I is the cartridge belt.

Referring first more artieularly to the arran ement illustrated y Figs. 4 to 14;, the

sai slide D consists of a rectangular plate of the usual shape havin on its under side longitudinal lugs or webs 2 D. Near one 'end these webs are formed with transverse holes for the reception of the ivotin D which is firmly fixed in said. ho es as eretofore. The 0 posite end of the said slide is also forme on its under side with two ledges D D for the s ring G as will be hereinafter described. he end of the said slide adjacent to the ivot D" is formed with two recesses or note es D D as best seen in Fig. 6. The feed pawls F have near their pivots, lugs or'projeetions f which are ada ted to fit into the said-- recesses or note es D in the slide when the-pawls occupy their working fosition 'on their pivotpin D" (Figs. 2-an 14). In order to enable the pawls to be pushed iaterally on to their pivotpin'.D','the lugs f are cut away or notched at .f' {(see-Figs. 7 and 8) to form flattened surfaces wh1ch','when the awls are"placed in the orizontal position s own in F1g .)11, bear against the underside of the slide When the pawls are in this position, it will be seen that the lugs f are free ment with the recesses or notches D 1!] the slide D (see Fig. 11) and that said pawls are therefore able to freely move laterally along their pivot-pin eitherinward in order to assemble them in place or outward to detach them. When the awls have been pushed .along their pivot pin inwardly as far as they will go, that is until they meet the ad'aeent parts of the webs D on the under sur ace of the slide, their lugs f gitudinallypushing, -;means of its finger piece 9 in a direction to lie opposite the recesses or notches D in the slide and will engage therewith when their inner or free ends f are turned downwardly under the influence of their sprin G as shown in Fig. 13, and then the sai pawls will remain held in place on their pivot-pin, in their working position. The said spring G is made of one piece of metal having two curved resilient members 9 9 (Figs. 9 and 10) and its fiat end is so cut that it can be bent down to form a finger-piece g with lateral win s or flanges g g for engaging with the a oresaid ledges D on the under side of the slide, the said finger iece bein adapted to lie between the said edges an thus'prevent the spring from lateral displacement. The free ends of the resilient members are adapted to bear against notches ,or shoulders f on the upper. sides of the pawls (Fig. 14) in order to exert their s ring pressure thereon, this enga ement of t e free'enolsv of the resilient mem ers with the notches or shoulders of the awls, also serving to prevent 'longitudinai displace ment of the spring. 1n assembling the spring plate G, the ee ends of its resilient members g are placed above the pawls at points beyond the aforesaid notches or shoulders f, as shown at Fig. 12, and the opposite end of the said spring plate is pressed inwardly toward the slide until its upper surface lies against the adjacent under surface thereof, this position bein rendered feasible b the resilientnature o the spring late. T e sprin plate is then ulled by its finger piece g in a lon itudina direction away fromthe pawls,-w1ereby its lateral wings. or flan g are caused to engage with the ledges D?" of the slide, and as soon as the. free ends bf the resilient members y move far-enough- .to'the left, they snap into en'gafement-wuhthe aforesaid notches or sho ders f"'of the}pawls.' -The said spring plate then occupies its "operative osition on the 'slide-and-ean 'onl be remove therefrom by first raising the ee ends of the resilient members from their engagement with the I aforesaid notches of the pawls and then lon the spring plate by disengage its wings '9 from the ledges D; When t e parts are in their assembled osi tion as. shown by Fig. 14; the lugs f o. the pawls can move freely in the recesses or notches D of the slide when the said pawls turn about their pivot. pin during the working of the gum-the extent of such movement not being sufiicient to bring the lugs out of engagement with the said recesses or notches. The pawls are thus held in place so that they cannot shift laterally on their pivotpin, although they are capable of freely perorming their angular movement during the working of the gun.

In the arrangement illustrated by Figs.

'22). At other times the said flanges 15 to 19, instead of forming in the end of the slide the aforesaid notches D, it is provided with depending projections D of semi-circular shape which are of such a thickness as to leave between them and the contiguous part of thewebs D spaces or recesses '1) (Fig. 16) in which the lugs f of the pawls lie during the working of the pawls. The said lugs f are formed with corresponding semi-circular notches f (Fig. 17) which only come into lateral coincidence with the semi-circular projections D when the pawls are turned into their horizontal position shown in Fig. 19, in which position the pawls are capable of being 'slid freely along their pivot-pin for detaching them from or attaching them to the slide.

In the arrangement illustrated by Figs. 20 to 23, the connection is effected with the pivot-pin D instead or with the slide. For this purpose the pivot-holes in, the pawls that fit on to the pivot-pin, are formed of two diameters so as to obtain internal flanges 7''. These flanges are radially slotted at f to pass over corresponding radial projections f on the pivot-pin, when the awls are moved into the horizontal position (Fig.-

f he behind the radial projections i thus retaining the pawls in their assembled osition on the pivot-pin, with freedom 0 an-. gular movement thereon during the working of the gun. In this case the connection constitutes a species of bayonet joint and may obviously be of other form than that above described. The said pawls may also be formed with the usual flattened portions or shoulders f for hearing against the slide and limiting the extent to which the said pawls can turn about their pivot-pin under the influence of their spring.

It should be here stated that it is not intended to limit the invention to the above described specific forms of the feed pawls and the parts on the slide with which they engage. These parts may be of any suitable form so long as the slide and the feed pawls 'are so constructed that when the latter are I pressed inwardly toward the underside of the slide, against the resistance of their spring, until they assume a position beyond that which they assume during working, they will become disengaged and can then be immediately detached laterallvby withdrawing themfrom their pivot-pin.

What I claim and desire to secure by Let-.

' tion.

ing said pawls to prevent their lateral displacement when they are in working position. I

2. In a .cartridge-beltfeed box, the combination with the reciprocat' slide, the pivot pin. fixed thereto, the fi i g pawls angularly displaceable on said pivot pin and freely removable laterally therefrom when turned into a position beyond that which they assume during working,"and the spring for said pawls; of projections formed on the pawls near their pivotal axis, and restrainlng means engaging said projections to prevent the lateral displacement of the pawls when they are in working position.

3. In a cartridge-belt feed box, the combination with the reciprocating slide, the

ivot in 'fixed thereto, feedpawls anguarly isplaceable on said ivot pin and freely removable laterally t erefrom when turned into a position beyond that which they assume durin working, and the spring for said pawls; o notched lugs formed on said pawls near their pivotal axis for engagement with recesses in the slide while the pawls are in their wor position, and means whereby the said sp keep the lugs engaged with t eir recesses w e the pawls are in their workingposi- 4. In a cartridge-belt feed box, the combination-with the reciprocating slide, the ivlot pin'fixed thereto, feed pawls anguar y freely removable laterally therefrom when turned into a position beyond that, which they assume during working, and. the spring for said-pawls; of restraining means engaging said pawls to prevent their lateral displacement when they are in working posioperates to lsplaceable on said pivot pin and tion, and means whereby the said, spring is held in place on the shde in a manner to permit of its detachment and attachment without the use of tools.

-5. In a cartridge-belt feed box,.the combination with the reciprocating slide, theivot pin fixedthereto, feed pawls anguarly isplaceable'on said freely removable laterally t erefrom when turned into a position beyond that which ivot pin and they assume during working, and the spring for said-pawls; of restraining means engaging said pawls to prevent their lateralidisplacement when they are in working 'posi-. tion, lateral fla es on said rin and ledges on the un er side ofsai shde for the flanges on said sprin to engage with by a lengthwise movement t ereof. 6. In a cartridge-beltfeed'box, the combination withthe reciprocating slide, the ivot pin fixed thereto, feed pawls anguarly displaceable onsaid ivot pin and freely removable laterally t erefrom when turned into a position beyond that which they assume during working, and the spring pivot in fixed thereto, feed pawls angu-' larly isplaceable on said pivot pin and freely removable laterally therefrom when on said spring to engage forsa'id pawls; of restraining means engaging said pawls to prevent their lateral displacement when they are in working position, lateral flanges on said spring, le es on 'the under side of said slide for the anges bination with the reciprocating slide, the

turned into a position beyond that which they assume during working, and the spring for said pawls; of restraining means engaging said pawls to prevent their lateral displacement when they are-in working p0si-- on said pawls for the free' ends of the spring 'to engage with, lateral flanges on sai e tion, shoulders s ring, 1 ges on the under side of said sli e for the flanges on said spring to engage with by a lengthwise movement thereof, and a finger-piece on said spring adapted to fit between the said ledges on the slide.

In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature in presence of two witnesses. 7

GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM.

Witnesses:

HENRY KING, ERNEsr E. LARKms. 

